Review Blog

Dec 20 2012

Motive Games by L. D. Taylor

Wombat Books, 2012. ISBN 9781921632259.
Phil's dad has died and he is sure that it was not an accident. The
problem he has is proving that it was murder and then finding out
who did it. Helped by his friend Oliver and retired police detective
Turpin, Phil sets out to achieve this. The story details Phil's
efforts, through his work with Motive, a company that designs
computer games. His dad had designed a game called Serial Assault
which many people believe had led to the death of some of the
players, so there is no end of suspects. Through his computer
animation skills Phil produces a simul based on the police report
that convinces him that his father was murdered. He then tries
to work out the method and some likely suspects.
The story moves along quickly helped by relatively short
chapters and not much character development. There is a lot of
detail about the computer systems involved in designing and
developing games that may appeal to those interested in the
technical side of gaming. As well there is a glossary at the
end which explains the many technical terms used throughout
the book. Overlaying all of this is a Christian message about faith
and hope and the book won an award for this.
Whilst I found the story intriguing, for me there was too much
jargon that got in the way and the Christian message was not
seamlessly integrated. However more computer literate readers may
find that the detail adds to the story and engages their interest.
Despite its worthwhile objectives I found it only moderately
interesting although gamers might disagree.
David Rayner